Titanic history stays afloat at Alhambra High School for centennial

ALHAMBRA - One hundred years ago on Sunday, the RMS Titanic sank in the frigid Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg, leaving a legacy of disaster stories, shipwreck expeditions and improved maritime safety in its wake.

Some people are recognizing the tragedy by retracing the Titanic's route, but Alhambra High School students did the next best thing Friday.

Deja Vu History Club students dressed in period attire and played Titanic survivors during the presentation, and music students formed the Titanic Trio to play the theme song from the 1997 blockbuster movie.

"I learned a lot," said Raymond Chou, who used crutches as injured Titanic wireless radio operator Harold Bride. "The Titanic impacted a lot in history. Because of the Titanic we have more safety in sea now, we have iceberg patrol, and we have more lifeboats now."

Everyone attending the event Friday at the school's library received a boarding pass with the name of a passenger, and following the show could check a manifest to find out whether or not they survived.

Librarian Cathy Brooks, a Titanic enthusiast, lent her collection of replica memorabilia for a display, including historic books, necklaces, a boarding pass and a plush black "mourning bear," similar to the ones given to survivors.

"I knew I had to do this," Brooks said. "(The students) would come every Friday afternoon, I would make them watch films about the Titanic. They had to work on different characters and write about different people."

The history club really got into it once Brooks brought in period hats for them to wear, she said.

Alhambra can claim a small connection to the Titanic, Brooks said, through high school alumnus and author Clive Cussler.

Cussler, the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, discovered the RMS Carpathia shipwreck in 2000. The Carpathia was the first ship to respond to the Titanic's distress calls and rescued its survivors.